Clay Lane

The Copy Book

A Library of History and Literature in English

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595

Stale and Hearty

Archdeacon and diplomat Peter of Blois was a frequent guest at the laden tables of King Henry II, but he had little appetite for the fare on offer.

596

The Voyage of Sigurd

Back in the eleventh century English refugees founded New York, but it wasn’t in North America.

597

Home from Home

In Constantinople, capital of the Roman Empire, a man from Kent founded a glittering church for English refugees.

598

England’s Lost Civilisation

Orderic Vitalis regrets the passing of a society far more refined and advanced than that which supplanted it.

599

Forgotten Melodies

When the Normans came in 1066 they deliberately destroyed English chant, the last survivor in Western Europe of a tradition five centuries old.

600

Paxton’s Palace

The steering committee for the Great Exhibition of 1851 turned down all 245 designs submitted for the iconic venue.